The Go Betweens were a notable presence for me growing up - not huge, but a definite presence, this indie cred band who did pop songs and were from Brisbane of all places. As a Brisbane boy this had a lot of resonance for me - like Foster I went to Brisbane Grammar School, and loved cricket and went to UQ, although Forster was actually good at the game, and he studied arts. At uni he met another private school boy Grant McLennan and while both of them seemed to prefer film, they wound up forming the bands.
The Go Betweens had an interesting trajectory - most well known bands rise, plateau and fall, but they forever seemed to be in second gear. Everyone recognised their talent, especially as songwriters, but they could never break through to the broad public, have a hit or even become that famous. They didn't even have much of a local following in Brisbane. (This could be explained by the fact that once they formed they spent so much time in England and Sydney). I still find it remarkable that "Streets of Your Town" wasn't a hit - it only reached #68 in Australia!! This broke the band for a time, which is understandable - they decided to quit (rather the two boys did, annoying the two girls). They got back together, and started recording again, had some more cult albums - which actually rank among their best.
McLennan died quite young of a heart attack - he was a smoker and heavy drinker. It's interesting to wonder what sort of career they would have had if he had lived - still motoring along, I feel, though maybe selling out more vineyard. Their last performance together was at Andrew Upton's birthday party which feels entirely appropriate.
Forster has written a lot of music reviews and you can kind of tell from this book, which lingers over descriptions of his and McLennan's songs, and songs from other artists that influenced him like Bruce Springsteen and Orange Juice.
He has a flair for description but isn't that great as a story teller (the film idea he and McLennan worked on - described in some detail - doesn't sound very good) or even an anecdote or someone who captures a character. The other members of the band feel sketchy - even McLennan doesn't leap off the page as a personality, but I get the impression that's what he's like. There are glimpses of a perhaps richer, more compelling book - going golfing with Lloyd Cole, for instance, or writing of McLellan's devastation post break up. Surely they knew more colourful characters? Forster's dabbling in heroin (which gave him Hep C) is dealt with in only a few lines.
On a personal level I really love some of their songs, though I'm not sure they were the best singers - I wonder how they might've done employing a female front person like the Black Eyed Peas. They definitely should have toured more in Australia - but I get that it cost them money.
For no real reason, my top five of their songs
1) Streets of Your Town
2) Part Company
3) Finding You
4) No Reason to Cry
5)Bachelor Kisses.
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